Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Okay, I have not done a Tasty Tuesday post in a very long time, but I wanted to share my "applesauce" experience with you. I am not sure if you are familiar with Angel Food Ministries, if not you can visit here for more information. We purchased a box from angel food this month, and inside the box was a bag of apples. I also participate in a produce co-op through my local homeschool association, we picked up our basket of produce today, and I had more apples. I ended up with about 30 apples with everything combined. Needless to say, that is a lot of apples!! I don't know about you, but the thought of wasting food, honestly makes me sick. With all the people that live in this house, we go through tons of food.

In an effort to use all of my apples, I decided to make applesauce. All of my children like applesauce, so it seemed like a win win situation. I googled several recipes, and found one that was fairly simple on Food Network, but I ended up changing the recipe. I took photos of the process to help anyone out there who has never made apple sauce, see how easy it is.

This is what you do:**Just a little note about my recipe, I am not really a "measurer", I use the sprinkle/dash method**

Ingredients:I used 11 apples, you can mix and match the type of apple.1/2 cup of sugar1 cup of water (you may want to add more if the consistency is too thick)Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Instructions:Peel and core all of the apples. I used what I refer to as the "apple thingy", pictured above. It makes the peeling and coring process much more pleasant, and even cuts the apples into little slices.

Place the apples, sugar, and water in a large pot, and bring to a boil. I set my burner to med. temperature. Stir frequently. As the apples cook down, they will create more juice.

Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. This picture is what it looks like after 20 minutes.

Puree the apples. I used a stick mixer, and it worked wonderfully.

Next I mashed the apples through a strainer to make sure there were no seeds or pieces of the core left.

Add a sprinkle of cinnamon, and you are done. I never would have guessed that making apple sauce was so simple.

There are a couple of different options on how to store your applesauce, especially if you make a large batch. Your first option is to can the applesauce. I am not a "caner", that requires more time than I have to give. The other option is to freeze it. I poured my applesauce into muffin tins a placed them in the freezer. Once they are frozen solid, remove them from the tin and place in a freezer bag, then pop them back into the freezer. There you have, super simple and very tasty.